New York-listed LPG shipowner Dorian LPG's profits rose on the year in the third quarter, boosted by a rise in time charter equivalent (TCE) earnings and the sale of a very large gas carrier (VLGC).
The firm made a profit of $14.1mn in the third quarter of this year — the second quarter of its fiscal year 2022 — compared with $0.5mn in July-September 2020 and $5.9mn in the second quarter.
The increase was driven by higher earnings for its fleet, on a TCE basis. The TCE rate of the fleet averaged $30,996/day in the third quarter, slightly lower than the second quarter but up from $26,015/day in the same period in 2020. This included profits from the Helios Pool, its partnership with Phoenix Tankers.
Higher dry docking had hit Dorian's third quarter 2020 earnings, because of greater vessel expenses — 13pc above the third quarter of this year — and inefficiencies linked to the position of vessels before and after dry docking. And Dorian was allocated a higher proportion of profits from the Helios Pool in third quarter 2021, because it chartered proportionally more vessels into the pool.
This helped to offset a year-on-year decrease in freight rates and higher bunker prices. The Ras Tanura to Chiba VLGC rate averaged $41.90/t in the third quarter this year, down from $50.82/t in the third quarter of 2020 and $52.45/t in April-June this year. The price of 0.5pc sulphur 380cst bunker fuel, dob Fujairah, was $531.60/t on average in the third quarter this year, compared with $323.99/t in July-September 2020.
Dorian's total fleet utilisation, including vessels deployed in the Helios Pool, decreased to 95.7pc in the third quarter, from 97.4pc in July-September 2020. But this was the first quarter which all twelve of its scrubbers were in full operation, the firm said. It achieved a 50pc reduction in lower sulphur emissions compared with Ultra Low Sulphur Fuel Oil 0.1pc (ULSFO) and Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) as a result.
Dorian LPG completed the sale of its oldest vessel — the 2006-built 82,000m³ Captain Markos NL – in August this year. The sale of the vessel generated a profit of $3.5mn, as well as reducing vessel expenses. And the company agreed to time charter — with purchase options — three newbuild dual-fuel Panamax LPG vessels to be delivered in April-September 2023, and one VLGC on a one-year charter that was delivered in October.
The firm expects an additional 74 VLGCs, equivalent to around 6.6mn m³ of capacity, to be added to the global fleet by the end of 2024. The orderbook currently stands at 24pc of the total global fleet, while the average age is approximately 9-10 years old.
